


I was Changed for Good

by sinceresapphire



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Ignores 2x10, M/M, alternative fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 02:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2755583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinceresapphire/pseuds/sinceresapphire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would have happened if it was Fitz who went down the deep, dark hole instead of Mack?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When Something was Different

The temple team was getting ready to explore the underground city when Fitz got a bad feeling. His sense of unease increased when Coulson stated that Mack was going to be the one to go down first to check out the stability of the terrain before the others joined him. Without thinking, he spoke out.

“No! Not Mack.”

Everyone looked over at him. Coulson furrowed his brows.

“Someone has to go down, Fitz.”

Nodding his head, the Scotsman agreed. The part he didn’t agree with was the choice of who went down.

“What’s the problem then, Turbo.”

“Someone else should be the one to go down instead of you. You’re the strongest one here so you should stay up here in case we need you pull up whoever goes down.”

He wouldn’t admit that the thought of putting the mechanic in potential danger was enough to make him sick to his stomach and toss up his lunch.

Coulson thought about it for a few moments and saw the sense in his words.

“Alright, someone else can go down. Are you volunteering?”

“Yes.”

Simmons looked startled at his reply.

“Fitz, you can’t.”

“I’m the engineer so I should be the one who goes down. You know that, Simmons.”

A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“Fitz will be alright, you just have to trust him. If there was another way, he’d take it.”

Bobbi tried to sound understanding but she had been a field agent for a long time so she knew that you had to take the necessary risk and send in the right person.

“Are you sure about this, Turbo?”

The two men shared a glance and the shorter one could see all of the worry and concern in the warm brown eyes he has come to know so well. He nods.

“Yeah. I know that if something happens, you’ll have me out of there in no time.”

Several minutes later, Fitz was hooked up to the cable once the harness was secure. He was nervous but something told him that he made the right decision in switching with Mack. If something did happen, it was better to lose the damaged person than the whole person. The other man was a great asset to the team and an even better friend, so the Scot trusted him to protect and take care of his team in his stead. He would never regret the path he has taken.

“You don’t have to do this, Fitz. We can send down Mack like originally planned.”

Jemma was worried about her best friend and that he didn’t think this through.

“No, it has to be me.” He sounded so sure the rest of the team looked at him from where they were finishing the prep for his descent.

“Alright, the first sign of trouble you yell up. Promise me, Turbo.”

The look in Mack’s eyes was so strong that he felt frozen in his spot.

“Of course Mack. You have nothing to worry about.”

His right middle finger was crossed over for his pointer finger in his pocket. Somehow, he didn’t feel like he was going to make it back to the bus but he wasn’t going to worry any of the others. They’ve done enough worrying about him.

Standing at the edge, he took a deep breath. There was no going back.

Down he went, slowly but smoothly.

The lack of light was disconcerting. His mind couldn’t help flashing back to the cube right after the water started rushing in.

Then he started falling faster as the team lost control of the pulley system.

Fitz landed with a thud as he had fallen the last fifteen feet thanks to his own weight and gravity working together against him.

“Fitz! Are you alright? Answer me, Fitz!”

Simmons kept screaming down to her best friend, not sure if he was conscious or not because she couldn’t see him.

The seconds ticked by and the longer that they went without hearing anything; the more nervous Mack started to feel. Hadn’t Turbo been through enough already? Why did he agree to switch with him?

Coulson and Bobbi met each other’s gaze then nodded before returning their attention to the other pair in order to keep an eye on them.

It took him a few minutes to get his bearings before Fitz could call back up to his worried team mates.

“I’m okay….just landed hard on my back.”

At least, he didn’t think he broke anything which was good then he rolled over onto his side, leaning on his left arm.

Suddenly, he felt like there was electricity running up his arm and it was painful. He didn’t think the rush of water hurt this bad. Then he screamed out.

The scream that Fitz emitted caused the team to freeze in fear for a few moments. Then suddenly, he thought he felt himself being pulled up but the energy flowing through his body was overwhelming his senses.

Mack pulled faster than he ever pulled a rope but felt it still wasn’t enough; he had to get Fitz back up here.

An arm wrapping itself around her shoulders startled Jemma and she turned her head to the left to see that the arm belonged to Coulson.

“He’s going to be okay, Simmons.”

“You can’t say that, sir. We don’t know what caused him to scream like that.”

After what felt like ages, the screaming engineer was back up with them and Mack made quick work of getting him out of the harness. The engineer rolled over so he was on his hands and knees with his head bowed.

“Fitz? Are you alright?”

Simmons gently reached out to touch his shoulder.

Fitz didn’t like that. Meeting her gaze, his eyes were blood red and that’s all she saw before he launched himself at her; knocking her off of her feet and into the wall.

“FITZ!”

“TURBO!”

“FITZ!”

The rest of the team yelled out in shock at his actions.

The possessed man turned his attention to them then quickly punched Coulson twice so he ended up on the ground.

Bobbi and Mack met each other’s eyes. This was not good. This was not their Fitz. The woman could tell her friend didn’t want to hurt the engineer.


	2. When Things Got Rough

Mack didn’t want to hurt the engineer; he’d been through too much already so he hesitated when the man turned his attention to him.

“Come on, Turbo. It’s me, Mack. You don’t want to hurt me and I know you didn’t want to hurt the others. Come back to me.”

He couldn’t help begging because it was better than the alternative.

Bobbi wanted to give her friend a chance to get through to Fitz as she could see how much it meant to him even if he didn’t recognize that he felt more than he thought. But she was an agent and needed to keep a level head. They needed a plan to stop him before they were all taken out permanently since there were so few of them left.

“Mack! I’m going to distract him so you can get behind him and restrain him. Then we can use an ICER to knock him out so we can get him back to the bus safely.”

Nodding his head, he knew it was the only way as much as he didn’t like it. He hoped the other man would forgive him.

The blonde woman grabbed a stone and threw it at the target, successfully gaining his attention.

Mack knew he only had one really good chance to do this, so he carefully moved around Coulson and Simmons, who were checking each other for injuries while keeping an eye on what the others were doing, and got into position. He just hoped no one took a tumble down the shaft.

The two friends nodded then he moved; wrapping his strong arms around the engineer tightly but not enough to hurt him.

Bobbi took out the ICER and shot Fitz, who had been struggling in the mechanic’s hold.

He was out like a light.

Shifting his friend in his arms, Mack knew he’d be the only able to carry him. Though, on a good, non-injured day, he could see Coulson giving it a shot but only if he wasn’t there.

“Alright, well that wasn’t how I was expecting this to go. I think we need to leave and regroup. Simmons, you and Bobbi are gonna need to come up with something that will let us go down without having a repeat of this. Mack, you good there with carrying Fitz?”

Mack nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good and Turbo will be once we get back.”

At least, that’s what the man hoped.

Once their things were gathered up, they left the site and got into their SUV for the drive back to where they left the bus. All of them were trying to figure out how to explain what happened.

They were getting out of the jeep and Mack had Fitz back in his arms when they heard a voice.

“What the bloody hell happened out there?”

The group looked over and saw the rest of the team waiting for them, though they looked a bit banged up and Skye held an ice pack to her head.

 “What happened out there? What happened here?”

Bobbi had asked the question they were all thinking, using her hands for emphasis at the end.

May decided to answer.

“Raina escaped. Your turn.”

“It’s a long story. Let’s get Fitz settled in first as I imagine Mack’s arms must be getting tired.”

Coulson looked over at him.

He shrugged. Actually, he could do this all day though he’d prefer a conscious and awake Turbo to the one in his arms. Not that he’d mention that.

Carefully, the mechanic made his way the stairs as he tried to not bump Fitz’ head on anything. He was followed by the team.

“Alright, I think we can put Fitz in his bed so Simmons can check him over then meet up in the lounge area. May, I need you to get us in the air. We’re sitting ducks on the ground.”

Mack followed Simmons down to one of the rooms then carefully laid Fitz on the bed.

“You can go join the others, Mack. This may take me awhile to check him over.”

He shook his head.

“I’d prefer to stay, if you don’t mind. I’ll stay out here so I don’t get in your way.”

Simmons nodded then started to examine her best friend. The Brit was concerned about what happened to her best friend when he was down in the city.

Fifteen minutes later, Simmons removed her gloves then looked up at Mack.

“He’s going to be sore when he wakes up but other than a few bumps and bruises, there’s nothing physically wrong with him.”

“Then why did he scream and attack us?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll need to discuss this with Coulson.”

She stood up and left the room but as she headed towards the lounge, she paused and looks back at Mack.

“Are you coming, Mack?”

“Nah, think I’m gonna keep Turbo company. You know, in case he wakes up and isn’t in his right mind.”

Simmons smiled softly and knowingly at the man before continuing on her way.

He entered the room and sat down on the floor next to the bed. Looking over his friend, he hoped that Fitz would be alright. He couldn’t imagine not having him around. Chuckling lightly, he was amused how forcefully and stubbornly the other man made himself a permanent part of Mack’s life.

Meanwhile in the lounge, the rest of the team was gathered to discuss what happened in the underground city.

“So wait, you’re saying that Fitz didn’t want Mack going down the shaft, so he volunteered. Then something went wrong with the cable system which caused him to fall down the last fifteen feet and hurt himself. It was dark down there, so you guys couldn’t see anything so you have no idea what happened that caused him to scream. So when you guys got him back up, he attacked you and had to be knocked out with an ICER. Did I sum it up correctly?”

The summary given by Skye was correct and both Coulson and Bobbi nodded.

“That’s right. Hopefully, Simmons will have some answers for us and Fitz will be back to normal.”

Coulson sighed. It was his fault for letting Fitz go down there when it should have been him or Bobbi. He’d been right about not sending Mack down.

“If its answers you want, I’m afraid that I don’t have many. Physically, Fitz is fine other than the odd scrape and his back will be sore from his fall. Other than that, I haven’t the faintest idea why he attacked us.”

Her worry seeped into her words.

“Looks like we need to get back to the Playground.”

Coulson looked around and realized they were missing someone.

“Where’s Mack?”

“He wanted to stay with Fitz in case something happened.”

The Director looked thoughtful but didn’t say anything.


	3. When Two Steps Backward were Taken

Three days had passed since the trouble at San Juan and Fitz had awakened half an hour after being brought to the Bus. It had been a rough couple days for the engineer and the rest of the team. They decided to not push Fitz for his side of what happened. Eventually, he told them the details. Though, they weren’t anywhere close to finding out what caused it.

Now, all Fitz wanted was to return to normal, or rather, his new normal. People didn’t seem to get the memo and it was like the early days of adjusting to his condition after leaving the hospital.

“Seriously? Don’t people have anything better to do than stare?” He muttered under his breath.

The engineer walked into the lab ready to get back to work.

As Fitz attempted to work on one of the projects that needed to be completed in a timely fashion, he found that he couldn’t focus on it. Sensing the other scientists staring at him like he was going to Hulk out, was annoying and it hurt.

Letting out a sigh, he tried to ignore them.

“What was with that heavy sigh, Turbo?”

Mack’s arrival startled him and he dropped the device he had been working on.

“ _Great….just, great._ Thanks, Mack. I really needed that.”

Focusing on cleaning up the mess, he missed the look on his friend’s face at the tone he used.

“You gonna answer my question?”

The mechanic leaned against a table of the way.

“Everyone staring at me and treating me like glass again and that sucks.”

Fitz huffed as he threw the last of parts into a box.

“Hey man, they’re just concerned about you. I am too.”

He approached the Scotsman and placed a hand on his shoulder but couldn’t help frowning when Fitz shrugged it off.

“I don’t _need anyone’s concern_.”

Fitz spun around and hit the table with his hand.

“ _I’m fine. Why doesn’t anyone get that? Why can’t they leave me alone?”_

“Okay Fitz, you know what…You want to be alone? Then I’m going back to the garage. When you come to your senses and realize being someone’s friend means being concerned about them when something traumatic happens to them, come see me; but until then, don’t.”

As he watched Mack walk away, he realized two things: one, that the other man called him Fitz and not Turbo and two, he managed to hurt his biggest supporter. The realizations caused him to fall into his chair and put his head in his hands.

Several hours had passed when Fitz realized what time it was. He looked over his work and saved anything that needed to be then decided to head to the kitchen for something to eat. As he walked, it occurred to him that none of the team had come by the lab after Mack left. Fitz reached the doorway to the kitchen when he heard voices laughing.

“Oh come on, Mack. There’s no way Hunter would have been that stupid.”

Hearing Skye address Mack caused the engineer to freeze and bite his lip nervously. He turned around and headed in the direction of his room before anyone saw him. There was no way that he was going in there.

At least one thing worked out for him…..Fitz made it to his room without running into anyone.

“You really put your foot in it this time, Leo. What the hell’s your next move?”

Letting out a sigh, he changed out of his clothes and into his sleepwear, suddenly not hungry anymore.

Since he met Mack and the other man showed that he cared about the engineer, Fitz had been worried that he’d disappoint him. But now, he’s done worse…. _he hurt him._ He wanted to go apologize and get things back to normal but something told him, things wouldn’t ever go back to how they were between the two men and it scared him. So, he took the coward’s way by hiding in his room. Though, Fitz wasn’t sure he’d be able to find the words for how he was feeling anyways.

He sets his alarm earlier than usual so he can grab something to eat before heading into the lab then falls into an unrestful sleep; the sound of Mack calling him Fitz instead of Turbo, echoing in his head and breaking his heart.


	4. When Emotions got the Better of Him

The blaring sound of his alarm going off, startled Fitz and brought him out of the dream he was having that involved him, his favorite mechanic and whipped cream. He looked at the time and was confused for a few moments before the events of the day before came back to him. Groaning, he climbed out of bed then went to take a shower.

Half an hour later, Fitz was heading to the kitchen area for breakfast. It was useful knowing the schedules of everyone who might interrupt him this morning.

He made himself toast, eggs and a bowl of cereal to make up for skipping dinner the night before. While he ate, he kept an eye on the clock so he can get to the lab and lost in work before anyone could bother him. Though, if yesterday was any indication, he may have a quiet day.

Once his dishes were done and put away, Fitz headed to the lab.

“This is a surprise, Fitz. What are you doing up so early?”

The engineer turned around and saw Coulson standing near the entrance to the lab.

“Oh, well, I had some things that I wanted to check on before I got started on the day’s work.”

Coulson frowned slightly as if he didn’t completely buy it.

“Well, you were missed at dinner last night.”

“Mmm….got caught up in something I was working on last night.”

“Your projects are important, Fitz but don’t forget to take care of yourself too.”

“Thanks sir. I will..keep that in mind.”

“Good. I will see you later.”

As he watched Coulson leave, Fitz couldn’t help thinking about what Mack said the day before. Letting out a sigh, he turned to his workspace and settled in for a busy day ahead.

By the time Simmons joined him in the lab, the engineer had already put in ninety minutes of work.

“Good morning, Fitz. I see you’re already hard at work.”

“Hello Simmons. Some of this couldn’t keep so I had to get to it as soon as I could.”

As he was focused on the work in front of him, he didn’t notice the look his best friend was giving him.

“Indeed, I know what that is like when I’ve had time sensitive experiments.”

The conversation tailed off as the scientist got started on her own work for the day as she hoped to finish a few things if they didn’t get called to go out on a mission.

Over the next couple hours as they worked, Simmons kept an eye on Fitz when it came to the time when Mack usually came to see his friend for the first time in the day but didn’t this time, she saw him bite his lip as his shoulders sagged. The engineer was clearly feeling guilty about whatever happened between the pair.

“Fitz, I’m going to make some tea. Would you like some?”

 The small smile she got from him made her feel slightly better and she left to get them their tea.

Once Simmons had left, Fitz let himself feel the full brunt of emotions that were bubbling up inside of him. He missed Mack and wanted to make things right but he couldn’t help thinking that the mechanic was better off without him.

Taking a deep breath and blinking away the tears, Fitz gathered himself as he knew it wouldn’t take Simmons long to make the tea.

The engineer didn’t notice Coulson watching him from the doorway for a few moments.

When Simmons returned, Fitz gave her a grateful smile before taking a sip.

The short break was exactly what he needed and she knew that.

As the pair worked on a sensitive project, they ended up having lunch in the lab. In fact, they barely surfaced all day from the lab then Simmons dragged her best friend to the kitchen for some dinner.

Fitz felt himself relax as he enjoyed the meal with Simmons and Skye.

The relaxed feeling went away when he heard Mack approaching with Trip so he decided to make himself scarce since he still hadn’t figured out what to say and how to say.

The one time he wanted Mack’s help to find a word, he couldn’t.

At least Fitz was done eating, so neither woman was concerned when he left.

Knowing the team would be eating, he decided he wanted to go on a walk and clear his head outside of the base.

It was a challenge to get outside but he managed.

Then he started walking off in a random direction, not noticing how dark it was getting.

Fifteen minutes later, Fitz realized that he was lost and without a phone. Sighing dramatically, he sat down on a bench.

“Does Coulson know you’re out here alone?”


	5. When Unexpected Conversation Matters

Footsteps approached from behind.

“Better be careful, you never know what could be hiding in the shadows.”

At the sound of a familiar voice, Fitz froze on the bench. Even though, it’s been awhile, he could never forget Ward’s voice.

In the dim light of the streetlight, Fitz looked at his former teammate.

“What….what….what are you doing here, Ward?”

Ward walked towards him, staring intently as if trying to figure out a puzzle.

“I was just in the neighborhood, thought that I’d drop in and visit some old friends.”

Standing up from the bench, Fitz moved around it as he tried to put some space between him and Ward.

Ward frowned as he watched Fitz move.

“What are you doing out here at this time of night anyways, Fitz?”

He would have thought Coulson would have an eye on all of his people nowadays.

Fidgeting with the bottom of his sweater, Fitz didn’t know how to answer that question especially coming from Ward.

“I…I have my reasons. Why do you care?”

This was dangerous territory and they both knew it.

Ward sighed.

“I know you don’t trust me, don’t believe me but I can tell something is off. You’re different, Fitz.”

“It’s your fault.”

Trying to not react to the anger, Ward continued on.

“Mmm….no. It’s something else. Something familiar that’s hanging on the edge of my memory.”

Fitz pushed his curiosity down.

“I don’t care.”

Crossing his arms and looking away, he didn’t notice Ward pulling out a phone and sending a text message.

“You know, if I can tell something is off then you can bet the people around you have noticed especially Coulson.”

“Yeah well, his observational skills aren’t as great as people would make them out to be.”

“This doesn’t sound like you, Fitz. This anger….frustration isn’t normal.”

Fitz spun around and glared at him.

“What do you know?”

“I know you.”

Fitz didn’t want to admit it but maybe, just maybe, Ward had a point.

“You should go back. It isn’t safe for you to be out here.”

Before Fitz could respond, he heard a car driving down the road and he turned to look for a moment. Then he returned his gaze to where Ward was standing but noticed that he was gone.

The car came to a stop next to the curb and the window rolled to reveal Coulson inside.

“What the hell were you thinking, Fitz? Leaving the base alone? Get in, we’re going back.”

Not in the mood to argue, Fitz did as he was told.

Coulson looked him over.

“How did you know?”

“Ward sent me a message. “

Of course he did.”

Fitz rolled his eyes before looking out the window.

Several silent minutes passed.

“So I’ve noticed that Mack has been spending a lot of time in the garage the last couple days….”

“Of course he has, that’s his space.”

The words sounded forced, even to Fitz’ ears.

“Care to tell me why you felt the need to leave the base and not tell anyone?”

Slumping in his seat, Fitz was hit by the guilt he had been fighting.

“Needed air….to think…..”

“Think about what’s going on with you and Mack?”

Fitz bit his lip as he looked over at Coulson.

“I may have done something, said something stupid to him that I didn’t mean.”

Coulson just stared at him.

“Alright, so I did.”

Admitting that he did something stupid was a hard pill to swallow for Fitz.

“People in the lab were treatin’ me like they did when I first got to the base after what happened to me. They stared at me like I was the Hulk and that hurt. I just wasn’t thinking. Mack came in at the wrong time and took the blunt of it.”

Now that he told someone, Fitz felt a little better, no longer drowning but still treading water.

“He told me to not talk to him until I realized that friends have every right to be concerned when somethin’ traumatic happens or something along those lines.”

“Then tell him what you told me. Mack will listen to you, he always has. This time won’t be any different.”

Fitz sighed, hoping it would be that easy.

Hearing the sigh, Coulson decided to make a confession.

“Fitz, you have to decide if sacrificing what you have with Mack for your pride is worth it. When I didn’t trust May, that wasn’t my concern for the team talking, that was my pride and ego. It was when she left that I realized that I was wrong, that my pride wasn’t worth it. I’m just lucky things worked out.”

The thought of losing Mack, the one person who believed in him when the others treated him like glass, felt like a stab to his gut and Fitz didn’t like it.

The moments that he shared with Mack that made him feel like himself again flashed through his mind.

No, Fitz realized, he couldn’t sacrifice his friendship for his pride.

He tried to ignore the warm sensation when his mind brought up the images of Mack smiling down at and touching him.

Fitz had been feeling cold since the fight with Mack.


	6. When Things got Unexpectedly Complicated

As he walked down the hallway, Fitz felt his nerves fighting with his determination to make things right with Mack.   
If there was one thing Leopold Fitz was…..it was stubborn.  
Coulson had told him that Mack would be the only one working in the garage when they got back so that’s where he headed.   
Walking through the entrance to the garage, Fitz paused to watch Mack.  
He had missed this.   
Scanning Mack’s body language and behavior, Fitz couldn’t help frowning because it wasn’t Mack’s normal smooth confidence he has when working on cars. His arms were tense and back was stiff like it was taking all of his concentration to work on the engine and not do something else.   
Fitz coughed a couple times to get Mack’s attention.  
The unexpected sound startled Mack and he looked up quickly, dropping his tools at the same time.   
“Turbo! You’re okay!”  
Fitz frowned.  
“Why wouldn’t I be?”  
Mack quickly crossed the garage so that he stood in front of Fitz.  
“Skye said you were missing but then Coulson got a text message and left in a hurry.”  
Mack sighed before checking Fitz over for any injuries.   
“Well I’m fine, just needed some air to clear my head.”  
“Wait. You left the base? Alone? What the hell were you thinking?”  
Fitz bit his cheek to fight back his immediate reaction.  
“This isn’t how I thought this was going to go.”  
Mack stared down at him and Fitz started to fidget in response.   
“Do you…do you have….can we talk?”  
Biting his lip, Fitz wasn’t sure how Mack would react to what he had to say to him but he knew that it was important.  
“Yeah, of course Turbo.”  
Fitz tried to not react to Mack using his nickname again.   
Instead of saying anything right away, he moved over to one of the chairs that was kept in the garage for various reasons.  
Mack followed him over and waited for Fitz to say something to him.  
Letting out a sigh, Fitz played with the bottom of his cardigan as he met the other man’s gaze.  
“I owe you an apology: I was an ass.”  
He raised a hand when he noticed that Mack was going to say something.  
“No, I need to say this.”  
Mack leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as he nodded.  
“You were right. I mean, you had a point and I- I was being dumb.”  
The frown that appeared on Mack’s face told Fitz that he wanted to say something because he never liked it when Fitz talked about himself like that but was trying to let him get this all out.  
“I shouldn’t have taken my anger – no, no that’s not it - my upset, no my frustration out on you. It wasn’t the right thing to do.”  
Fitz paused for a moment.   
“I’m sorry, Mack.”  
Once the words left his lips, Fitz looked away from Mack and around the garage before noticing something strange: a box shaped like a star, sitting on a table.  
Always the scientist, his curiosity was peeked and he went over to look at it.  
"No, Fitz, don't touch that!"  
It was too late and Mack watched horrified as the engineer started to glow brightly.   
Covering his eyes, the mechanic hoped nothing bad happened to his friend but in their line of work, he knew that the chances of that were slim.  
Eventually, the light died down and he looked over at Fitz.  
"Turbo, are you okay?"   
Mack was concerned because the other man was looking at him like he never saw Mack before.  
“Who is….who is Turbo? Who are you?”  
Mack froze.   
This was not good and Coulson was going to have his head because he told Mack to secure that device when other people were around.  
“The name’s Mack and Turbo is my nickname for you.”  
Fitz looked confused.   
“How did you make, no not that word…get Turbo from Leopold Fitz?”  
Filing away that piece of knowledge for later when he could tease Turbo about it because they just had to return him to normal, Mack tried to figure out what to do next.  
“What do you remember?”  
Fitz frowned, upset that he apparently lost some of his memory.   
“I was just released from the hospital and rejoined the team.”  
“Alright, let’s go talk to Coulson. He needs to know.”  
Mack carefully put the alien device away so no one else would end up in the same condition as Fitz.   
“Do you happen to know where Coulson is?”  
“Yeah, he has a real office, just stick close Fitz. This underground bunker takes some getting used to. A guy may or may not have gotten lost a couple times.”  
There was no way Mack was going to admit it was him.


	7. When the Unexpected was Dealt With

The team had been assembled and Mack tried to not squirm under the looks he was getting from Agent May and Skye.

Trip was trying to get Skye to chill while knowing better than try to do the same with May.

Simmons was too concerned with Fitz to bother glaring at him.

Of course when he wasn’t trying not to squirm, he was mentally planning on slowly killing Hunter because the other man was too amused for his liking.

Hearing a sigh, both Mack and Fitz looked over at Coulson.

“This is why I told you to secure the artifact when people were around, Mack. We have no idea what it does though it seems like it erased part of Fitz’ memory.”

Bobbi had been spending the time looking between Mack, Fitz and the others.

“Sir, I may have a clue about what happened.”

“What is it, Bobbi?”

“It’s more of an observation but Mack said Fitz couldn’t remember him. However, when Hunter and I entered the room, he greeted us like normal. It doesn’t make sense because I met him after he already met Mack.”

Simmons frowned.

“So, what you’re saying is that the only person Fitz can’t remember is Mack.”

Bobbi nodded.

“Exactly.”

Coulson turned his attention to Simmons.

“I’m going to need you to take a look at the device and see if there is any way to reverse it. Use Mack’s notes as a starting point.”

Fitz frowned because he was the engineer.

Seeing the look, Coulson addressed what he believed the cause was.

“It wouldn’t be safe for you to work on the device because we don’t know if it would continue erasing your memory or not.”

“So….um, what should I, um, do in the meantime?”

Looking between his engineer and mechanic, Coulson had an idea.

“Get to know Mack and the two of you try to figure out why he is the only one you can’t remember.”

The two men nodded then left the room.

May looked over at Coulson.

“You have an idea about that.”

He met her eyes.

“This is something they need to work out between themselves.”

XxxxxxX

The pair walked in silence down the hallway towards the common area, where Mack hoped, they would be able to talk without being bothered. It was the most neutral place he could think of.

Though, probably not the best place for a private conversation but he didn’t think this Fitz would be comfortable in one of their rooms.

He glanced over at Fitz and noticed him fidgeting with his shirt.

“Um, so, Mack. You’re name is Mack, right?”

“Yeah Fitz, that’s what people call me. What’s up?”

Fitz picked at the bottom of his shirt as he struggled to say what he wanted to say.

“You don’t - there’s no need - you don’t have to do what Coulson said.”

“Hey now, man. I know that but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to. Even though you don’t remember me, we are friends.”

Fitz seemed to perk up at that.

“We’re friends?  Even though my words don’t – my words won’t come out like-like they should?”

“Your wiring was just changed, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

Mack patted him on the shoulder gently.

Before Fitz could say anything in response, his stomach made its presence known causing Mack to laugh.

“Come on, Fitz. Let’s grab a bite to eat. It’s a good thing the kitchen is in the same direction as the lounge.”

It was that comment that caused Fitz to accept that they are friends; anyone who knew to feed him had to be a friend.

About three minutes later, the two men found themselves in the communal kitchen.

“Alright Turbo, I mean, Fitz—what should we eat? I can make a decent sandwich and there’s a bunch of snacks in the pantry.”

Confused about the Turbo thing, Fitz contemplated the options.

He walked over to the pantry and opened the door before looking at the snacks that were in stock.

“Your American chips and pretzels would be good.”

“Alright, grab the bags and I’ll get us something to drink.”

Mack headed over to the fridge and grabbed a couple sodas because he didn’t think alcohol would help with Turbo’s memory issue at the moment.

With the soda and snacks in hand, the two men headed down two corridors and through three doors before they found themselves in the lounge.

Mack took a seat on the couch and gestured for Fitz to sit down as well.

“Alright man, what do you want to know?”

“Well what do you for S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“I work in the garage as a mechanic but I also have experience as an engineer.”

While Mack answered his question, Fitz was messing with one of the bags of chips and popped it open when he processed what was being said.

“Engineer?”

“Yeah, that’s how we met in fact. Coulson wanted us to work on a few things then it spiraled out from there when we became friends.”

“Why-why do you want to be-be my friend? I’m not the same, not like I was. ”

Mack smiled at him and he found that he couldn’t look away.

“You’re different but that’s not a bad thing. I like the Fitz that I’ve gotten to know.”

Now that, made Fitz smile widely.

The other man seemed like a nice guy even if Fitz still wasn’t sure if he agreed with him.

As they indulged in the snacks, Mack couldn’t help hoping that Simmons would figure out how to restore Fitz’ memory of him.

When Bobbi mentioned that Fitz remembered her but not him, it was like a punch to his gut.

Suddenly, Fitz grabbed his head with both hands as his knees buckled and he hit the floor.

“Fitz!”

Mack rushed over to his friend’s side.

“What’s wrong? What can I do to help you?”                       

His hands hovered over Fitz’ shoulder, worried about how he would react to Mack touching him; however, he couldn’t help himself so he gently grasped Fitz’ shoulders so he’d look at him.

The moment they made contact, the pain went away.

“Mack? What’s-what’s goin’ on?”

“You were in pain but are not now. So you tell me.”

Fitz shook his head.

“Not that. You called me Fitz instead of Turbo. Did I upset you again?”

Mack felt his jaw drop before collecting himself pulling Fitz into a hug.

“Nah man. You just couldn’t remember me but clearly you do now because I hadn’t mentioned your nickname after your memory was erased by the alien tech.”

Fitz nodded his head as he returned the hug.

“Alright, guess we should go tell Coulson you’re back to normal.”

XxxxxxxxX

Once the others heard that Fitz’ memory came back, it was absolute chaos with people trying to talk over each other in order to ask how he was.

Coulson whistled loudly.

“Okay, okay. Everyone needs to calm down. It’s great that Fitz has his memory restored but we need to make sure he’s completely alright. Simmons, escort him to the medical bay and check him over. Everyone else, back to work. You can talk to him later at dinner.”

Jemma grabbed her friend’s arm and dragged him out of the room before he could say anything to Mack.

The aforementioned man couldn’t help chuckling at the sight.

“It’s good to see that they’re getting to a good place with their friendship.”

Bobbi had walked over and joined Mack when he wasn’t paying attention to anything that wasn’t Fitz.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing for Turbo.”

“And for Simmons too.”

He nodded in response.

Bobbi looked at her friend for a few moments.

“I haven’t seen you like this in a long time.”

Mack smiled softly.

“I haven’t been in love for a long time.”

 


	8. When Things are Finally Happy

Fitz bit his tongue as it started to appear like Simmons was doing more tests than was possibly necessary.

Of course she was worried, so was he but this was overdoing it.

He hadn’t seen her like this since they worked on the Chitauri vaccine.

“It was an antiserum, Fitz; not a vaccine.”

Fitz realized he must have said that last part out loud.

“Okay, okay, okay. I think if you haven’t found anything by now then you’re not going to, Simmons.”

Before Simmons could reply, he hopped down from the table then unhooked the I.V. from his arm.

He was anxious to get back to Mack.

Simmons sighed but shoed her friend out of the medical bay.

Fitz didn’t need to be told twice as he left in search of his friend so they could talk…. _again_.

The moment he stepped out of the room, he walked straight into Coulson.

“Oh, sorry sir.”

Coulson shook his head.

“It’s alright, Fitz. Though, I would like to talk to you.”

Fitz frowned; it seemed he would have to wait to go find Mack and talk to him.

It took him about half an hour to find Mack in his room.

“Hey Turbo, everything good?”

Fitz grinned before nodding his head.

“Yeah and Simmons went above and beyond with the tests. I would have been here sooner but Coulson wanted to talk to me.”

Mack tensed up at the mention of their boss.

“Oh really? What did he want?”

“To discuss what happened and what was going to happen next.”

Oh boy, that was what Mack was afraid of.

Fitz’ mind wandered back to the meeting he had with their boss.

_Following Coulson, Fitz realized that they were headed for the man’s office which meant that there was a serious conversation in their future. A conversation he wasn’t in the mood to have at the moment because he wanted to go find Mack and finish their conversation. But Coulson wouldn’t be ignored._

_‘Have a seat, Fitz.”_

_His eyes followed Coulson as he walked over to the chair the other man had gestured to and sat down._

_“First things first. What did Simmons find when she checked you over?”_

_“Simmons gave me a clean bill of health. No side effects nor anything to worry about.”_

_Coulson nodded his head._

_“I’m glad to hear that. Now, we need to talk about what to do about what caused this to happen in the first place.”_

_Fitz frowned._

_“It sounds like you mean **who** caused this, not what. Sir.”_

_Coulson stared at him for a few moments._

_“You wouldn’t have lost your memory if Mack did what I had instructed him to do so he needs to learn that actions have consequences.”_

_The moment that the words left Coulson’s lips, Fitz tensed up._

_“You’re wrong. It was an accident, that’s all.”_

_“Be reasonable, Fitz.”_

_Fitz glared at him as he stood up._

_“I am reasonable. It was an accident and I don’t blame Mack. End of story.”_

_Without waiting to hear what his boss might say, he stormed out of the office._

Mack wasn’t surprised that Coulson thought like that but he was surprised; surprised that Fitz would react like that and surprised that he didn’t blame him for what happened.

“Turbo, he’s got a point.”

Fitz only shook his head as he couldn’t help seeing it another way.

“That’s not—This isn’t how it goes. It should be me.”

Mack frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Playing with the hem of his shirt, Fitz tried to convey what he wanted the other man to know.

“You were distracted because of me. Otherwise, you would have done what Coulson said. You’re always on top of things like that.”

Fitz let out a sigh.

“You tried to stop me too. Don’t—you can’t forget that part.”

Mack got up from his bed where he had been watching a few videos Skye thought he’d appreciate.

“Come sit down, Turbo.”

Fitz walked over to where the other man was sitting on his bed and sat down on the edge.

Looking at Mack, he knew he needed to be honest with him.

“When you fell down the shaft, the thought of never seeing you again scared me and I realized something.”

He looked down at his lap.

Mack was about to say something when Fitz shook his head to stop him.

Taking a deep breath, he looked back over at Mack.

“I’m not happy being just your friend anymore.  I want more.”

After a few moments, the grin that Fitz had slowly, steadily fell for blossomed on Mack’s face.

“Wanna know something, Turbo? I wanted to be your boyfriend for awhile, just didn’t know if you were into that.”

Whatever Fitz had been expecting Mack to say, it wasn’t that.

Maybe….Coulson was right.

Fitz rubbed the back of his neck as a thought occurred to him.

“So….we’re a thing, that means I get to kiss you. I want to kiss you, only if you want me to kiss you.”

“Yeah man, you can.”

Pushing his trepidation aside, Fitz moved close to Mack then slowly brought his shaking hand up to his face and took a few moments to appreciate that he can do this now, whenever he wanted.

Fitz pressed his lips against Mack’s tentatively at first but then he gained confidence when he felt Mack kiss him back.

Their second kiss was better as Fitz started to really enjoy himself.

“Come over here, Turbo. You’d be more comfortable.”

Moving so he was fully on Mack’s bed, Fitz grinned at him when the other man wrapped his arms around him before kissing him again.

There wasn’t much conversation after that.

Making out is much more fun.


	9. When Things are Wrapped Up or Are They?

Hearing an unfamiliar alarm going off, Fitz woke up and looked around the room.

He could tell that it wasn’t his room even in the dark.

The other thing he noticed was that he wasn’t alone in someone else’s bed.

Looking over at the other person, Fitz remembered everything that happened the day before including never leaving Mack’s room.

Fitz found that he enjoyed being in Mack’s arms and the feelings of being safe and protected.

“Good morning, Turbo. Sleep well?”

Turning around to face Mack, he smiled.

“Very well in fact. How about you?”

“Same and I gotta say, I’ve missed sharing my bed with someone.”

Fitz couldn’t resist kissing Mack, so he didn’t.

“A guy could get used to waking up like this every day.”

Before Fitz could respond, there was a loud knock.

“Hey mate, time to get up. We’ve got a mission and you need to find Fitz.”

“Alright Hunter, just give me a few and I will.”

 Mack made a face that summed up his feelings about the interruption which caused Fitz to cover his mouth with the pillow so Hunter wouldn’t hear him.

“I should go back to my bunk and change. Who knows what Skye or Trip or Hunter of all people would say if they saw me in the same clothes from yesterday.”

“Alright, Turbo. Meet you at the briefing then.”

Fitz managed to climb out of the bed then started heading towards the door before he came to an abrupt stop.

“Hang on. One thing before you go…”

Mack’s hand wrapped around Fitz’ wrist and he tugged gently so they were at the same level. His other hand cupped Fitz’ cheek before he kissed him softly.

Oh yes, Fitz could get used to this.

“I really need to go before Hunter barges in here.”

Letting Fitz go, Mack relaxed back on his bed as he watched him leave.

He never thought that he’d see this happen.

Mack finally got himself out of a bed several minutes after Fitz had left his room, vaguely curious about the mission Hunter mentioned.

Of course, he’d rather still be in bed with Fitz.

At some point, he was determined to make that happen and he was sure there would be no complaints from Fitz.

Twenty minutes later, the team had gathered in their briefing and debriefing conference room to go over the mission.

Fitz immediately walked over to Mack’s side as he usually did but this time, his smile was brighter and aimed solely at Mack.

Seeing that no one was paying much attention to them, Mack focused on Fitz before whispering, “Did you make it back to your room alright?”

“Yeah, no one paid me much attention.”

He was glad that he hadn’t run into Hunter or Skye or Trip, mostly Hunter because he had been near Mack’s room when Fitz left.

“Think it’s a risk worth taking again tomorrow?”

Mack was trying to contain his grin because he didn’t need any of the others picking up anything right now.

Call him selfish but he wanted to enjoy them, just the two of them.

“Yes, it’s worth more than anything else to me.”

Now that he was with Mack, Fitz found that he didn’t really care about anyone seeing him leave Mack’s room or anything else.

Coulson chose that moment to enter the room and gain the attention of the team.

Fitz moved so that he was standing right next to Mack so he could brush his hand against Mack’s before catching the slight smile on the other man’s face at the contact out of the corner of his eye.

“Alright, I’ve decided that it is time for us to go back to San Juan and deal with the underground city. Bobbi and Simmons have worked hard on creating a couple suits that would prevent what happened the first time we went there.”

At the mention of the previous events, the team all looked over at Fitz causing him to frown.

“Anyways, we have to decide who is going to go down and check it out.”

Most of the team raised their hands to volunteer but Fitz grabbed Mack’s hand to keep him from volunteering.

Mack sent him an amused look which Fitz promptly ignored as he tried to let go of Mack’s but he wouldn’t let him.

Suddenly, their attention was drawn to the other team members as an argument broke out.

“Come on girl, there’s no way you’re gonna go down there!”

“Why not? I’m just as much of an agent as you are, Trip.”

“You’d be playing right into Raina’s hands and who knows what could happen.”

Skye huffed and crossed her arms.

“Why do you care?”

Trip sent her a very pointed look.

“Enough!”

Everyone looked over at Coulson.

“I’ve decided that Bobbi and May will be the ones going down since we have two suits available. Everyone be ready to leave in half an hour.”

Skye quickly left the room but Trip was equally quick to follow.

Fitz and Mack exchanged an amused look.

“Wanna come with me to get my gear from my room?”

“Sure, Turbo.”

As they walked down the hallway to where the team’s rooms were located, Fitz felt nervous about going back to the underground city.

“It’s going to be alright, Turbo.  May and Bobbi are both competent and can handle whatever happens.”

He knew Mack was right but that wouldn’t stop him from worrying.

As they turned down the corner, they saw Trip sitting on the floor and trying to talk to Skye through the door.

Fitz wanted to say something but Mack simply shook his head so they kept moving, careful to not trip over Trip.

Once they were in Fitz’ room, he quickly set about packing what he may or may not need.

Mack, on the other hand, was looking around and noted that it was mostly what he expected though he did spot a couple things he assumed would be more at home in Skye’s room than Fitz’.

“Ready, Mack?”

“Yeah Turbo. What I need is already on the bus from last time.”

Seeing Fitz frown again, Mack grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, drawing a smile from him.

Neither man let go until they reached the hanger because Mack was needed to help load a few things onto the Bus.

“Alright, the group that is going to the underground city is Bobbi, May, Simmons, Mack and myself. The rest of you will keep an eye out for any Hydra agents that may be lurking about and take of them.”

Coulson looked around the room and everyone nodded when he met their gaze before separating.

“Turbo, I….”

Fitz interrupted Mack.

“You better come back in this condition because I’m not done with you.”

“I will, promise.”

The men shared a quick kiss before their respective groups forced them to separate.

An hour later, the two groups had regrouped as the Hydra Hunting group ended up chasing some goons around the island until they ended up near the entrance to the underground city.

Mack thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest when he saw Fitz and Skye appear out of nowhere with Icers in hand. Eventually they were joined by Trip and Hunter who had a couple henchmen in custody.

The city group tried to get into the city but found that there was substantial damage and debris blocking the entrance.

They asked around and found out an earthquake had struck the area the day Fitz took a tumble down the shaft.

“Well, it’s clear that we don’t need to worry about the city. However, that doesn’t mean Raina isn’t still a problem. We need to track her down along with Skye’s father and Ward. Let’s get back to the base and figure out our next move.”

The team nodded in agreement with Coulson’s comments.

Mack moved so he was next to Fitz.

“So…you’re not done with me yet, Turbo. What did you mean?”

Fitz smirked.

“Oh, I have some ideas but you’re gonna have to wait…”

He walked off to talk to Skye with Mack following, begging him to tell him.

From some distance away, a figure watched the agents check out the area then pack up their things. A hand covered with small spikes was the only part visible and the figure watched for a few more moments before fading into the crowd as to not be spotted by the group.

**Author's Note:**

> Someone requested Fitzmack angst on Tumblr right about when I watched 2x09, so I thought it would be perfect to fulfill the request.


End file.
